Minutes for November 5, 2001

The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, November 5, 2001 in the South Room of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Schlomann called the third meeting of the academic year to order at 3:30 p.m.

The following members of the Senate were absent:

^*denotes prior notification of absence to the Faculty Senate Secretary

Visitors to the Senate were: Nick Bertram, Student Senate; Rita Davis, Enrollment Management; Erin Michalik, Academic Affairs Committee; Jennifer Rogers, Eastern Progress; and Debbie Whalen, Special Collections and Archives

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

The October 1, 2001 minutes were approved as written.

REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT: Senator Glasser

President Glasser thanked the Faculty Senate members for the reception held in her honor prior to the meeting. Those who were unable to meet with her at the reception were encouraged to visit with her at her office. The President further extended her thanks for the warm welcome she has received from the campus and the surrounding community..

President Glasser reiterated her interest in shared governance according to the AAUP Redbook guidelines and expressed her support for faculty input on issues that affect the University and faculty lives in general.

President Glasser recently wrote a letter of appreciation to the Governor on behalf of the University expressing thanks for not including Higher Education in the latest budget cuts and indicating EKU's interest in continuing to be full partners in educational reform in Kentucky.

President Glasser indicated that the Council on Postsecondary Education has recommended the requested 9.5% tuition increase which will generate some new money for the university. The Council also recommended the benchmark funding which will be equivalent to an approximate 4% increase of state appropriations for the next two years. However, this is only a recommendation and does not necessarily mean that the Governor will approve the latter recommendation. The exact funding will not be known until after the Governor submits the budget report to the General Assembly on January 15, 2002. Final appropriations from the General Assembly will not be known until April. When the amount is known, President Glasser will present the information to the Board of Regents at their April meeting. Prior to the Board meeting, there will be on-going discussions concerning the budget, both from the Faculty Senate and from the campus community in general.

President Glasser reminded the Senators that she will have her first conversation with the campus community on Thursday, November 8 at 8:00 a.m.

President Glasser announced that, at the request of SACS, the next SACS study will be delayed a year until 2007. This will provide additional time to work on strategic planning and budgeting. EKU will be sending a SACS team to New Orleans in December to begin reviewing the new guidelines and expectations.

President Glasser indicated that salaries will continue to be a very important priority not only in the upcoming year but in the future as well, even though the financial outlook is uncertain at this point.

President Glasser expressed her appreciation for the hard work the Strategic Planning Committee has completed thus far. She encouraged the campus community to participate in the process to develop a strong strategic plan to move the institution into the future.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT: Senator Schlomann

Senator Schlomann reported that the committee met on October 22. The committee reviewed the motion to accept the recommendations submitted by the Ad Hoc Committee on Faculty Workload. The first recommendation was that the current policy on faculty workload be widely distributed. This was done via a letter sent to all faculty as part of the newsletter that the Executive Committee periodically sends out. The second recommendation was to establish a policy which permits units greater flexibility. Dr. Marsden will have this added into the faculty handbook; the Executive Committee asked him to encourage the deans and chairs to make use of this policy and the flexibility it may give. The last two recommendations were for additional study of the role of technology and the policy on advising. The role of technology overlaps a recently established task force that the Provost set up to look at the future of the online curriculum at EKU. The Executive Committee decided to delay further action until the task force submits their report which is due by March 1, 2002. The Executive Committee agreed that the advising issue seems to have already been addressed by the changes made in undeclared advising; therefore, no further action was recommended at this time.

Senator Schlomann announced that in regard to the salary adjustment motion, the administration is working to implement the motion as expediently as possible. Those individuals affected should receive a new contract before the end of the fall term.

Senator Schlomann indicated that the Senate rules and internal procedures have not yet been distributed to new Senators. As soon as the Rules Committee has an opportunity to review and update, the rules will be posted on the web. The internal procedures will be distributed in the near future.

The Executive Committee also discussed the possibility of establishing a policy for the Senate to conduct regularly scheduled evaluations of the President. While recognizing that the Board of Regents has ultimate responsibility for evaluating the President, the committee noted the potential value for faculty to have an opportunity to provide feedback to the President on his/her performance. The Executive Committee will probably bring a motion before the Senate in the near future.

Senator Schlomann asked that she be notified if a senator is unable to serve on the Senate in the spring semester. She further requested that those not returning should contact their chair so that a replacement can be selected for the spring semester.

REPORT FROM FACULTY REGENT: Senator Thompson

Senator Thompson reported that the Board met on Homecoming weekend. A Finance and Planning meeting was held on that Friday and additional Board meetings were held throughout the day on Saturday. Seven items were approved by the Board.

1. The capital plan, which was originally presented to the Board in August, was approved. The major change approved to the capital plan was that the Business and Technology Center became the number one priority. A decision was made to seek funds for the 2002-2004 period in order to actually complete the project. The University Activity Center was listed as the second priority with the third priority being the Professional Teacher Education Center.
2. The budget reductions were approved and the monies left to the discretion of the President. Dr. Hughes emphasized to the Board that the new President would not have discretionary funds available because of the budget shortage and the reduction monies would somewhat alleviate the situation.
3. The Greek housing site was approved which will give the fraternities opportunity to raise funds.
4. A refund policy was approved for military personnel who are called up for service and have to withdraw.
5. An out of state tuition reduction of approximately 55% was approved for new undergraduate transfers who qualify because they are either from targeted counties in contiguous states or are children of alumni or meet certain high academic criteria. That same reduction was approved for new graduate students with similar criteria.
6. The Board also passed a proposal to increase the Faculty Senate term for the part time faculty representative from one year to two years as had been recommended.
7. Approval was given to change the name of the Division of Extended Programs to Continuing Education and Outreach and to change the administrator's title from Director to Dean. This was retroactive to October 1, 2000.

Senator Thompson mentioned that Dr. Hughes gave his final report to the Board summarizing his accomplishments during his time at Eastern and also providing some suggestions for the future. The Board expressed appreciation to Dr. Hughes for his help during his stay at Eastern.

REPORT FROM COSFL: Senator Falkenberg

Senator Falkenberg reported that COSFL last met on Saturday, October 13 at the Council on Postsecondary Education Offices in Frankfort. A large amount of time was spent on the consideration of a resolution regarding the treatment of the Faculty Senate chair at Murray. This resolution was tabled until additional information could be provided.

Upon the arrival of CPE staff including Dr. Gordon Davies and Jim Applegate, the remainder of the meeting focused on discussions with the council staff members. Discussions centered on the budget, the Council's prior request for institutional data, and upcoming program review. Reassurance was given that English and foreign languages are not being targeted but rather are viewed as essential parts of a University committee.

COSFL's next scheduled meeting will be on December 1, 2001 at the University of Kentucky.

REPORT FROM STUDENT SENATE: Nick Bertram

Mr. Bertram stated that last year the Student Government Association created the DEL (Distinguished Educational Leader) Award which allows students to nominate professors who they value to receive special recognition. This year there are four new categories added to the award. Those are: Outstanding service to EKU and the Richmond community; Exceptional classroom performance; excellent student support; and most outstanding.

Mr. Bertram mentioned that the Community Service Committee has teamed up with Kentucky Harvest to initiate a competition between organizations and departments to create a hundred yards of food for Madison County. $500 will be awarded to the organization or department that collects the most food, $250 for second place, and $175 for third place.

Erin Michalik gave an opinion report to the Senate regarding the students' objections to the newly adopted plus/minus grading system.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Committee on Elections: Senator C. Everett announced that Belinda Gadd has been elected to serve as the part time Faculty Senate Representative

Committee on Rules: Senator Yoder reported that the Rules Committee met October 31 at 3:30 p.m. Discussion began on the possible creation of a new standing committee and the committee's comments were forwarded to the Ad Hoc Committee on Compensation and Benefits.

Senator Yoder indicated that the committee is reviewing the Faculty Senate rules and internal procedures to make sure all approved changes have been made.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Intercollegiate Athletics Motion.  Senator Schlomann indicated that at the last meeting the following motion was made and seconded and discussions were postponed until this meeting:

"Senator Fister made a motion for the Faculty Senate Executive Committee to form an Ad Hoc Committee to examine the role of intercollegiate athletics at Eastern Kentucky University and to what extent funds used for intercollegiate athletics impact the quality of academic programs at EKU. The committee should report its findings and recommendations to the Senate no later than February, 2002.

After a brief discussion, Senator Fisher moved to amend the motion, which was seconded by Senator Falkenberg and approved by the Senate to:

1. To create an Ad Hoc Committee to be appointed by the Executive Committee to:
2. Examine the role of intercollegiate athletics at Eastern Kentucky University;
3. Determine the relationship between intercollegiate athletics and academics at EKU; and
4. The committee should report its finding and a recommendation back to the Senate no later than February, 2002.

Senator Siegel moved to postpone discussion until the next meeting at which time Senator Collins will report on the specific charge of the current university Athletic Committee. The motion was seconded by Senator A. Jones and the Senate was in agreement.

NEW BUSINESS:

Elections: Budget Committee (1 position)
Senator Siegel was elected to finish Senator Miranda's position on the Budget Committee.

Report from the Provost: Senator Marsden reported that he recently accompanied the Honors program students to Chicago for the National Honors Conference. EKU had the largest number of participants on the program of any institution in the country. Senator Marsden extended his compliments to Dr. Gray and all those who participated in the conference.

Reaction to the Student Opinion Report on Plus/Minus Grading System. Senator Flanagan suggested that the Executive Committee discuss the issue at their next meeting and bring back to the Senate, if needed, the process for considering a motion relative to the proposal from student government, seconded by Senator Falkenberg. This motion was approved by the Senate.

ADJOURNMENT:

Senator Marsden moved to adjourn at approximately 4:45 p.m.

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